Broken Horse
by Calendar-Girl-stay-alive
Summary: Hotaru's early years with a cold Michiru


She was ours; our first and only child. A problem child to say the least. Nearly destroyed the universe, then was gifted to us by our princess. We forcibly removed her from her father's possession, he was a man of questionable intent. She was just an infant then. We had no idea what we were getting into. I never wanted children, neither of us did. We were soldiers, brazen by continuous war. At sixteen all I wanted to do was make music and run my hands along my lover's spine, feeling the notches like the keys on a xylophone. Oh could I make her sing.

But we had her, and to aid in her care Time's daughter joined us in a rather large house. She would have taken her but she was always away on business, not to mention she had her heart set on spending time with a pink haired girl. Not sexually, at least not in this time frame. She was motherly, she knew how to be motherly at the ripe age of twenty two.

I gave up music. My passion, my fire, I let slip through my fingers for a child I didn't even love; an orphan to dangerous to fall into the wrong hands. No matter if they were more loving, she was a bomb, a risk. She was to be watched and her plots to recreate the solar system were to be smashed, no matter how hurt she became.

At first she didn't have her own room. I drew the short straw. I alone was to wake to her incessant screaming. A bottle, a change, a burp, and then back into the crib. No lingering embraces, just basic care. She had one outfit to wear in public, for those times we had to take her out, and one set of bed clothes. No toys, not teddy bears, I was not about to waste money on a child I didn't want.

She grew fast. Unnaturally fast.

One day I came home and instead of sleeping in her crib she was standing. Standing and pulling at the bars that imprisoned her. She still cried at night, but now she could ramble about nightmares. And during the day someone had to let her out of her crib, making sure she didn't eat rat poison. I was that person. Haruka was racing and Setsuna was with an adult Chibiusa at the time gates.

I was alone. Slowly I started calling her by her name, instead of that child.

"Hotaru, do you know who I am?" For a few seconds I sunk into baby talk, cooing at her and waving my hand in a half-hearted hello.

"Michi!" She giggled. Violet eyes smiled.

"Sure, close enough."

I took her out of bed for the first time. Her tiny arms grasped my back as I lowered her onto the ground. She still had no toys, and worse yet her outfits were far to small with the recent rapid growth. It was time to hit up Goodwill. I wrapped her in her blanket and held her as I walked to the store. It was a few miles away, but we lived in the city. The whole time I wanted to scream at the curious onlookers that she wasn't mine, she was forced upon me, and I was really a lesbian. A lesbian dating a famous racer.

"Michi?" She pulled at my hair, twisting it into knots.

"Stop touching my hair. No. Bad." I stopped walking and she took her hands away, grasping her thin arms. Did I feed her today?

"Michi?" Whining.

"Huh?"

"Michi! Taru!" Soft laughter. She did in fact know her name. She chanted our names as I dragged myself to the store.

The store was dingy and full of reformed homeless people. I was nearly famous. I was not like them. Slowly I wandered to the children's section, looking for something simple for her to wear. A set of PJ's and an outfit. I set her on the ground as I browsed the selection of dresses.

I grabbed a pink atrocity and showed it to her. She frowned.

"Don't like it? I don't like it either."

I went back to the clothing rack and found a black pair of shorts and a purple long sleeved t-shirt. She grabbed at the shirt and yanked the pants out of my hands, putting them on her head. Reluctantly, I smiled.

I grabbed nightclothes that were purple, covered in glowing fireflies. We both smiled. With my free hand I hoisted her up onto my hip. As we were headed to the checkout, she saw a stuffed rabbit. She tried to wiggle out of my arms and held her hands out crying. I kept going, and the sales lady gave me a look. I simply gave her a pleasant reply and put my purchases on the counter.

"Two hundred yen." A dead stare. Hotaru started to cry.

"What toy was it she wanted?" Noisy saleslady. I sighed while bagged up the clothing.

"I have no idea." I looked down at the still screaming child. She sniffled and pointed at a worn stuffed rabbit. Her lower lip pouted ever so slightly.

"She can have it. It's only 50 yen anyway." The associate picked up the rabbit and handed it to Hotaru, who immediately stopped crying. I paid and headed towards a changing room to pull her out of the blanket.

"PJ's or shorts?" I don't know why I bothered to ask.

"Bunny!" She held the toy out to me, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes. A bunny. Rabbit. Toy." I struggled to force her into her t-shirt and shorts. After a few failed attempts I glared at her. "Give me the rabbit."

"Michi!" I pulled it out of her hands and placed it behind me.

"You can have it back after your changed, I promise." She jumped into her clothes and waddled over to the stuffed animal. After it was securly in her arms she smiled and crawled to my leg, where she wrapped her thin fingers around my ankle.

"Up, Michi!" I pulled her onto my hip and folded the blanket. Stuffing it in the bag, we passed the shoe section. Hotaru was barefoot.

She did need shoes if I ever wanted to leave the house to grocery shop again. A pair of sandals, black, caught my eye. I slipped the onto her feet and they more or less fit, with a little room to grow.

Reluctantly I went back to the counter.


End file.
